A very hot Tuesday is in the offing as high pressure at the surface and aloft remain in place, allowing temperatures to head into the upper 90s to around 100° across the area away from the coast, where temperatures should peak in the low to mid-90s. Regardless of where you are, heat indices should peak around 108-109° as well, prompting a Heat Advisory for the Tri-County area — the first of 2025 — that’ll go from 1-8 PM. If you are working outdoors during that period in particular, be sure you’re getting plenty of fluids and taking frequent breaks in the shade or, preferably, an air-conditioned environment. Be very vigilant about any children or pets in the car, too — it doesn’t take very long at all for temperatures to become very dangerous in cars, and we don’t want any hot car deaths. Look before you lock!
If a high of 100° verifies at the airport, it would be the first time since May 29, 2019 (the Before Times!) that the temperature at the airport reached 100° or higher. Triple-digit heat isn’t expected east of 17, including in downtown Charleston and at the beaches, but the closer proximity to higher-dewpoint maritime air will still send heat indices into the danger zone despite the lower air temperatures.
Looking for thunderstorms to cool you off? I wouldn’t count on it, though a stray storm can never be fully ruled out this time of year.
The main weather story this week will be heat, especially for the first part of the week as strong high pressure aloft affects much of the Eastern Seaboard.
Summer heat will continue this weekend with limited chances for a few storms to cool things off. Saturday will start in the mid-70s, warming to the low-to-mid-90s in the afternoon. Mix in dewpoints in the low 70s, and it’ll feel more like the mid-to-upper 90s. There will be a bit more moisture available Saturday, which could allow for slightly greater storm coverage as the seabreeze pushes inland during the afternoon. However, most of us shouldn’t count on a storm to cool things off. Any storms that fire will dissipate with the loss of daytime heating.
A stray storm or two will be possible Sunday, but the vast majority of us should stay rain-free as dewpoints once again mix down to the low 70s in the afternoon owing to a lot of dry air aloft. We’ll warm to the low 90s, but the lower dewpoints keep heat indices relatively in check, only running a few degrees above the air temperature. That’s not to say that feeling like the mid-90s is in any way “cool” though!
As we reach the summer solstice late Friday night (10:20 PM, to be exact), the weather will be seasonally appropriate. We can generally expect temperature in the low to mid-90s each afternoon after muggy starts in the mid-70s. Showers and thunderstorms will be possible particularly Friday and Saturday afternoons along and ahead of the seabreeze, though updrafts will struggle against high pressure building in aloft. In fact, we should generally see a lid on things for Sunday, making for a mostly sunny day. Heat indices will still run in the upper 90s to around 100°, so be sure you’re getting plenty of water and rest if you’re working or playing outside.
More heat and humidity are on tap for Thursday, but with a slightly better chance of storms in the afternoon especially as a front gets closer to the area. We’ll start the day in the mid-70s once again, warming back to the mid-90s in the afternoon. We’ll be keeping an eye on a line of thunderstorms to our northwest, which could help induce some stronger storms in the metro later in the afternoon through the evening hours. Damaging wind gusts would be the primary concern in the strongest storms, though the risk for severe weather is generally low (but not zero) across the area.
